OK Guys. Time for a vote

peter nap

peter nap

Joined
Nov 27, 1999
Messages
3,745
Everyone who was hanging around at the other place, have already seen this.
I need to buy three locks soon and am considering selling rather than trading, a knife or two.

This is a good one to start with, but I would like to put it out to the makers that do sell. It's a portion of their livelihood I'm considering stepping on.

There won't be any hurt feelings or fussing afterward. Just two answers please.

The first is, should I sell it and the second (Dependant on the first) how much should I charge for it.

These are the pictures of the finished knife.
Oh....just for the purists, the finish is 50/50 Ballistol and Bear Grease.

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/peternap/fkm1.jpg
http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/peternap/fkm2.jpg
 
1. Yes, you should sell it. Unless there is some reason you really want to keep it. Otherwise, selling it will make 2 people happy. You get cash, they get a great knife. Win win situation.

2. For the most part, a knife is worth whatever people are willing to pay for it. I think a good starting point is 2 times the cost of the materials, and then add for your time/trouble to a value that you are happy receiving for the knife. I personally charge very little for my time. I'm in this part time and do it in my spare time for fun. Any money earned is a bonus, I don't have to worry about making $X/hr to stay in business. That said I don't sell a knife for less than I think its worth to me.
I don't have any idea how much time or money you have sunk into making that so I can't give an exact amount, but I will say that from the pictures it should command a pretty good price. It looks like a very nice knife, and on top of that there is all the history behind the design and the research you put into it. In the end only you can decide what its worth, a customer will try and tell you but you get to decide if he's right or not ;)
 
OK Matt. Thanks. To help the "How Much" question, $0.0 in materials. It took some time to get everything right. About 30 hours.
 
hmmm, I'd figure the rough value of the materials used if you were to buy them (low end since you didn't have to).
You basic stuff, roughy 12" of 5160 or whatever, $10. Curly maple:couple bucks, finish:$, casting material:$,Leather for sheath:$ ,wear on grinding belts, sandpaper, propane (most of these are rough guesses I don't do a lot of hard math) etc. Add all that up and I'm guessin that you'll come to at least $40
Double that. I figure thats the minimum figure. Even if you don't get anything for your time, you haven't lost any money and you can make another one for profit. But you can get a lot more out of it than that I'm just saying that as a general way of thinking about it. This knife is worth a whole lot more than $80.

Now for your time, 30 hours is a lot. I'd think you could probably multiply that by 5 and and come out with a total price of $240-250. Thats just a number I'm throwing out there, you have to decide what you want for your time. Decide whether you think your final price is reasonable and then see if the buyers agree. One thing you don't want to do is lowball yourself in the start. People don't respond to well when they offer your asking price and you say "how bout $20 more, would ya go for it then?" ;)

I hope someone else will chime in here as well cause I'm far from an expert at this.
 
i think everyone will agree that u should sell it ( or give it to me :D )

2 i am also in the rut trying to find out how much to charge on my knives i would say that u could probably sell for around 200-250 or so dollers but then again in new to selling....
 
Why sure Don. Of course sell it and more of them. I am a bit dissapointed though. I was so hoping it would be more of a Tracker design. :D You will pardon me on that I'm sure. The knife is great. I see alot of work in it.

RL
 
Looks realy good, I like the way you did the end cap/sleave.

I would say sell it, unless what your going to trade it for cost more than what you'd sell it for.

The price depends on you area, who wants it, and how much money they got. I would guess anywhere from 200 on up, but that's a very rough guess. Matt has some very good points on the material cost, and wear and tear on your equipment and such, you have to factor that in or your lossing money somewhere else.
 
I think you should sell it. As far as price, that's a tough call. I factor in material cost and the time. I probably don't charge what I should for my knives but I don't think I could sell them if I set an hourly amount for my time. 30 hours is a lot of time. Even 200.00 is not much for that amount of time. Some, not all perspective buyers of handmade knives don't see the blood sweat and tears that go into making a knife. All they see is the end result and the price. A makers price reflects what he feels his time is worth.
Scott
 
Look around at comparable knives by comparable makers and see what they are going for, add that to your computations.
 
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